Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/235941
GRAPEGROWING example. Color-coded icons alert the vineyard team of the vines' condition. The panel contains data fields for sending and receiving text messages and recording and reviewing recently completed vineyard tasks. In addition to alerting members of the vineyard team, the servers analyze the relationship between the composition of the fruit and water status for the vineyard. For another look at the vineyards, the monitor can display NDVI images representing the photosynthetic capacity of the vines. The technology senses small differences in plant growth from changes in nutrition, leaf area, soil properties and irrigation patterns. It permits vineyard managers to track mulching, mowing, tilling, irrigating, differential harvesting and disease for each sub-block in the vineyard. Wente, like many winemakers, believes that quality begins in the vineyard. Without the highest quality grapes, he reasons, he cannot produce memorable bottles of wine. Members of the vineyard team are already managing the vineyards more efficiently. "We can compare data to determine if we should irrigate three times for four hours or twice for six hours," Wente says. "We can correlate soil nutrition results from adjacent Differential harvesting can be planned with NDVI images representing photosynthesis. vineyards to determine which practices are most efficient. And we can explore how nitrogen concentrations in the fields affect nitrogen levels during fermentation. "Eventually, we'll know which programs work best." Sergio Traverso, Livermore Valley winemaker and co-founder of Murrietta's Well adds: "It has taken 200 years for prime regions in the Old World to develop a mature understanding of their terroirs, allowing winemakers to produce the best possible wine. With these technologies, we can accomplish that feat for some aspects of grape growing in 6 or 7 years." According to Traverso, these changes could launch an era when wines are appreciated for how well a vineyard expresses a personality that distinguishes it from the rest. "As winemakers and vineyard managers," he says, "we should celebrate differences between regions and varieties by making wine that reflects our terroir, not an industry standard." Win es & Vin es ja n ua ry 20 14 97